Neal: Moving forward with Ben Johnson is the only option for Gophers men’s basketball

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Gophers7633 said:
Not really other than he lost his two best returning players to the portal. I'd guess teams like UNLV, San Diego State, Boise State, Nevada, Colorado State, Utah State and New Mexico are all probably similar. I don't think any of them have what I would consider "good" NIL.
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Don't leave out the real UW. Come on, man.
 

I'm confused at the Johnson extension talks. IF he comes back next year, can't he just be coaching for one year, and we renew mid season or late season if he earned it? We do we talk about brining him back next year and renew his contract.

1. He should probably be let go after the season.
2. Bring him back to finish his current deal.
3. If a miracle happens then we bring him back and extend him (unlikely)
 

kg21 said:
No Garcia next year, with only Asuma returning, a weak recruiting class and we want to extend.

It's Minnesota Sports so why the hell not.

I'm laughing at the thought of us next year minus Garcia.

No one apparently cares!
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I'm really afraid of this roster without Garcia.. it can't be overlooked
 

Gopheritnow said:
Agree. I am continually surprised by the empty seats all over the country. At Purdue last night the guy with the sledgehammer would have had a hard time finding anyone in arms length to injure.

As for the coaching situation. MN has been a graveyard for BB coaches for years. And that was before NIL. With NIL it’s just worse. No high profile super recruiter is coming here to fight for transfers and new recruits knowing the funding isn’t there. Also, remember NIL is not the only funding out there. It’s the Wild West, and the checkbooks are open for teams that have sugar daddys!
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Fold the program then.
 


Gophers7633 said:
It'd be great if we finished 4-1 or 3-2 which means we won more games than we lost. However, in the grand scheme of things, this team will be no different than last years team, or the year that got Pitino fired. Pending what happens in the B1GT.
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If the year Pitino got fired mattered whatsoever to what another person does as a coach... No manager ever said, "You're mediocre just like Ted over there. Therefore, I feel like your body of work is just like Ted's" said no competent manager ever.
 

ShushPush said:
If the year Pitino got fired mattered whatsoever to what another person does as a coach... No manager ever said, "You're mediocre just like Ted over there. Therefore, I feel like your body of work is just like Ted's" said no competent manager ever.
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I'm just saying, beating your chest for being mediocre, and what got the previous coach fired, isn't exactly greatness.
 

mngg11 said:
I'm a very, very casual basketball follower. I know Johnson isn't popular on this board but from a casual's pov the guy is exceeding expectations. You're the only people who see the in game management issues, most people look at the win/loss column and read about how the roster was decimated in the offseason and how they were predicted to be dead last. It's fair to be upset or disappointed but don't be surprised if he's back next year, I'd bet most non-diehards who don't live and breathe Gopher bball would say he's earned it.
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They don't go to games or spend any money on the program.
 

bga1 said:
If he gets 4 more wins- he keeps his job. 3-2 in the regular season + 1 Big Ten win would be 9-11 and 18-15 after and 0-6 Big Ten start. Even better he gets 4 regular season wins and gets to 10-10.

I'm not saying it is a great performance- it isn't. But it would be an outstanding coaching achievement to bring this poorly assembled crew to 10-10 in the Big Ten after an 0-6 start. Actually kind of incredible if it happens. Nobody short of Gopher in NYC predicted that (and he admits he didn't believe it).

If he keeps his job, his extension and buyout should be performance based. Fired at less than 8-12 they shouldn't have to pay one. On the human side, I would actually like to see him pull it off and have him have a shot with revenue sharing to put together a talented roster. But for heaven sakes if he doesn't get at least 4 more games in the W column - they gotta move on.
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You have a very thought out post that makes a lot of sense. That can be hard to come by on these message boards. I can't say I'm confident that Ben is the long term answer but if they finish strong he probably gets another year. He shouldn't have much leverage so an extension that lowers the buyout should be doable.
 




Whether you believe Johnson is right or wrong for this job, its undeniable that the U will need massive improvement in the NIL department. We will simply not be competitive regardless of the coach if we can't retain or lure talent because we don't have the funds. It's a no brainer and that's our biggest problem right now.
 


Johnnyboy18 said:
That firing a coach and hiring another coach for ~2 million dollars a year which is going to be dead last in the B1G isn't going to produce different results.
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Ben makes more than $2 million. They will pay the next coach $3 + million. And they can certainly make at least one NCAA in four years and do much, much better than 21-53. Not that either of those are high bars.
 



Obi-Wan Okogie said:
Whether you believe Johnson is right or wrong for this job, its undeniable that the U will need massive improvement in the NIL department. We will simply not be competitive regardless of the coach if we can't retain or lure talent because we don't have the funds. It's a no brainer and that's our biggest problem right now.
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On NIL, and this is a random question, are AAU teams allowed to be donors? Ie could they earmark a NIL donation to the collective to be used on a Howard Pulley player? And then it exists as a self fulfilling way to pipe talent in? Obviously a dangerous game but just wondering if there are rules on this that say no you cant
 

Bad Gopher said:
Minutes ago, I concluded a working session with one of my national committee mates. He works for Wisconsin DOT and is an alumnus of UW-Madison. I mentioned to him that I would vote for Greg Gard as national coach of the year. Bill replied that, in his estimation, the basketball program is "okay." He mentioned that they haven't won a national title since the 1940's, and although they've been to Final Fours in recent memory, they haven't been to one in several years. He did admit they do well in the Big Ten, though. Must be nice.

I thought BleedGopher put it best in reply to the thread about what a realistic expectation for Gopher basketball ought to be. His reply was inspirational, in fact. He proclaimed that it's realistic to at least aspire to the same success that Wisconsin has had in this century, saying there's no logical, objective reasons why that's not possible. It should be noted that the Badgers had to kiss a lot of frogs over the years before they found a prince (the succession of Bennett, Ryan and Gard) to take them away from their previous existence. As the saying goes, persistence and perseverance pay.

Running the program back another year with Johnson is just another year delay in the hopes of attaining that kind of success--the potential this program has and has always had. Anyone who doesn't see that potential is short sighted.
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If the Twin Cities sports media were in Madison, they'd still be running it back with Steve Yoder. He's exceeding our expectations. He's nice to us! Give him another year!
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Yes, but anyone coaching here next year will face the same set of circumstances or maybe worse since the incoming freshmen have a fair chance of decommitting if there is a coaching change. Frank Mitchell could leave too; he wouldn't have much difficulty finding another program. Johnson could end up with a winning season and a postseason beyond the Big Ten tournament this year. If that happens, he will have had a significantly better first four years than Fred Hoiberg had at Nebraska.
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Assuming we don't again hire someone with zero head coaching experience, there's a very good chance the new coach will bring more talent with him from his old school than he will lose.
 

ShushPush said:
Well, he has a 14-12 record overall and a 6-9 record in the BIG. The trendline is that the team may well end up with a winning BIG record of plus 0.500. If they get there, what will you say then? My guess is very little back peddling and more "He wasn't responsible for the dubs."
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Too little, too late.
 

Spottedmuskie said:
I'm confused at the Johnson extension talks. IF he comes back next year, can't he just be coaching for one year, and we renew mid season or late season if he earned it? We do we talk about brining him back next year and renew his contract.

1. He should probably be let go after the season.
2. Bring him back to finish his current deal.
3. If a miracle happens then we bring him back and extend him (unlikely)
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They will have to give him at least a "paper" extension for recruiting purposes.
 

Spaulding!No! said:
Once again the local media is Johnny in the spot on how the U should manage a coaching change. They have had 4 years to pipe up and it’s been crickets. Should be exciting having everyone from Danny B to Jim doofus Rich telling the U what to do.
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Lots of input from guys who have watched about 5 games of Ben's entire tenure and couldn't name more than 3 players on the team.
 

Obi-Wan Okogie said:
Whether you believe Johnson is right or wrong for this job, its undeniable that the U will need massive improvement in the NIL department. We will simply not be competitive regardless of the coach if we can't retain or lure talent because we don't have the funds. It's a no brainer and that's our biggest problem right now.
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It is, but it's a chicken and egg problem. The NIL won't get better if they don't win. They won't win running it back with Ben Johnson and one meaningful returning player and no Dawson Garcia. At least a new coach will generate SOME initial buzz and probably a bit of NIL.
 

I can admit there are different ways of looking at this, especially with the team's recent surge. But, that the author claims there's only one possible answer, speaks to either his arrogance or agenda or, likely, some of both. Hint: whatever the agenda might be, it probably has little or nothing to do with the health of the program from the fan's perspective, and the fans pay the bills. Without the paying customer, Neal has no job.
 






There will likey be a transfer portal cliff next year. The COVID players are gone. Much more unknowns to sidt through. Likely going to suck for a lot of programs.
 




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